League Business
by KCS
Summary: 100 sesquidrabbles detailing 100 situations, based upon episodes in the animated series. No particular pairings, but probably will feature the World's Finest. Nonslash. Prompt #22 - Drink. Episode - Tabula Rasa
1. Assist

**_Prompt #1 - Assist._**

**_Episode: Starcrossed_**

* * *

"What are you doing in my cave...or what's left of it?"

The growl startled the bespectacled figure within, having been so intent upon his task that super-hearing had neglected to notice the faint shadow-shifting behind him. Huge hands tightened, crumbling the broken stalactite into dust, as their owner jumped guiltily under a familiar glare.

"I thought you might need some help cleaning the place up," he replied timidly, indicating the giant coin now replaced upright, the Thanagarian weapons stacked for analyzing on the table, and the conspicuous lack of debris, obviously having been hurled down into the caverns.

"Aren't you supposed to be in Metropolis?" Batman observed pointedly, perceiving the well-worn suit jacket tossed over a chair.

"Lunch break. " Clark Kent cheerfully hurled the remaining boulders over the edge and checked his watch. "I still have fifteen seconds to get back to the Planet before Lois steals my byline."


	2. Nonsense

**_Prompt #2 - Nonsense._**

**_Episode: Flash and Substance_**

* * *

"Flash Appreciation Day, my –" The Batwave suddenly interrupted, signaling a warning at Gotham Cryogenics. Sudden plummeting sensor temperature. Victor Fries. _Lovely_. Just what he needed after those Central City amateurs (the only town more sickeningly sunny than Clark's beloved Metropolis).

_Mirror Master_. Wouldn't last three seconds with his city's psychopaths.

Gotham was a city of darkness. Dark moods, dark history, dark people. The sun shone out of necessity, not cheerfulness. And he _liked_ it. The Batman was an extension of that darkness, not some scarlet-colored hero to be adored by a complacent populace. Gotham would never have dreamed of holding a Batman Appreciation Day. Or creating a Batman Museum.

_Is that why you keep your own museum in that cave of yours, Batman?_

"Get out of my head, J'onn!"

The Martian Manhunter still had not been able to find how Batman could send a _scowl_ through a telepathic link.


	3. Lose

**_Prompt #3 - Lose._**

**_Episode: Destroyer_**

* * *

His senses returned as the building – or what was left of it – shifted with a sonic reverberation that could mean only one thing. The two titans had followed Luthor's example and disappeared. A distant rumble of an earthquake confirmed it.

He swung out over the rubble of the proud Daily Planet building and tried not to think of all the people Clark knew, worked with, and loved, that had been buried when the iconic globe was hurled through thirty-seven stories to the ground.

As he followed the trail of destruction, he put a finger to his ear and contacted Mr. Terrific.

"Get every available member to Metropolis to help the emergency personnel," he snapped, in that particular obey-me-or-die-slowly snarl that not even the Man of Steel dared to cross. "And contact me as soon as you locate Lois Lane. I don't want to have to stop Superman from killing Darkseid."

* * *

_I'm no expert on Metropolis geography, but the only source I could find said the Planet building was only 37 stories. Correct me if I'm wrong._


	4. Comfort

**_Prompt #4 - Comfort._**

**_Episode: Hereafter_**

* * *

Diana tried to stop him as he left the scene, but only half-heartedly, knowing perhaps better than he did himself just what was going through his mind. Or what vital part was missing from it, now. He nearly destroyed his comm-link out of sheer desperation but decided to leave it, in case the Princess needed him.

The small scarlet scrap of cloth in his utility belt's spare pocket weighed against him more than all his other equipment combined; he wished nothing more than to retreat to familiar ground, a place where no one but an elderly butler would wonder at a grieving Bruce Wayne or Batman.

But he had work to do. Bruce Wayne had to call the _Daily Planet_ and inform them that he had pulled owner's rank and sent Clark as a foreign correspondent into the Middle East without Perry White's permission.

And Batman had to tell Lois.


	5. Ashamed

_**Prompt #5 – Ashamed**_

_**Episode: Clash**_

--

Sitting in the shadows rather than the sunset-light, he didn't look up when a darker shadow landed noiselessly (except to super-hearing) just behind him on the rooftop, but nor did he fly away.

"You're a hard man to find, Clark."

"Didn't want to be found," he replied sadly, eyes not leaving the rubble below.

"Then you want me to leave you alone?"

"Actually, yeah."

"Too bad," the Dark Knight observed with a half-smirk, settling companionably beside the Man of Steel.

For a long half-hour they silently watched the shadows lengthen and fade into darkness. Then Batman stood and reached for his belt. Superman barely noticed.

"Kent, remember something," Wayne added, firing the grappling-gun and swinging over the side of the building. "We all make mistakes; and if the world can forgive you, you should forgive yourself."

Superman blinked, startled, but the shadows had already swallowed up one of their own.


	6. Promise

_**Prompt #6 – Promise**_

_**Episode – Doomsday Sanction**_

* * *

When he awoke, the pain was worse; medication was wearing off. _Great_. And a (less physical) pain in the neck was sitting by the bed, his bulky frame barely fitting on the small chair.

"How are you feeling, Bruce?" Why did he have to look so _worried_?

"I've been better." He glared threateningly; he was good at that.

Superman ignored the patented Bat-scowl; he was good at _that_. "Bruce, I've been thinking about what you said. And…you're right."

"I usually am."

Alien-blue eyes rolled. "Look, I'm serious, Bruce! I…need you to promise me something."

Batman turned his head in the neck brace. "_If_ it ever happens, you want _me_ to take you down, and not Cadmus," he supplied quietly.

Superman's gaze dropped floor-ward. "Yes."

"I will." It was a promise, and one he hoped desperately he would never have to keep. "But you'd better never make me do it, Clark."


	7. Sleep

_**Prompt #7 – Sleep**_

_**Episode – Only a Dream**_

* * *

He made it back to the Watchtower, checked to see that the others' vital signs were returning to normal, and then collapsed into the chair beside Superman's bed before the floor began to look more appealing than remaining in a vertical position.

He did not remember falling asleep, did not hear J'onn extricate the others from their dreams. He did not hear Superman float off the bed so as to not wake him, and the rest of the League gather at the other end of the room to watch Hawkgirl as she awoke. He did not hear J'onn tell the story from beginning to ending about what Dr. Destiny had almost accomplished. He did not even hear that ridiculous song going through his mind anymore.

And he did not hear the quiet laughter as the Man of Steel picked him up and carried him to his room on the Watchtower.


	8. Complicated

_**Prompt #8 – Complicated**_

_**Episode – For the Man Who Has Everything**_

* * *

None of them talked about it, or even wanted to, until they were back in Metropolis in Clark's apartment (not even he wanted to remain in the Fortress).

Kent had insisted upon getting takeout (the conventional way, not flying to get it from China) instead of the interrupted birthday-gathering, and was apparently burying the memory of what had happened in his usual ridiculously accepting way. Diana was more concerned with Bruce's untouched meal.

He brusquely ignored her attempts at comfort, but the Princess was not to be denied, and dumbfounded him with a quick hug before disappearing into Clark's kitchen.

He blinked, harrumphing awkwardly, and Superman choked into his chow mein.

"What are _you_ laughing at?"

"Nothing." Clark smirked. "You know it's a good thing that…_plant_…didn't get hold of her. Dark knight in shining armor, huh?"

He ducked as a batarang flew over his head, embedding itself in his wallpaper.


	9. Trust

_**Prompt #9 – Trust**_

_**Episode – Divided We Fall (italics are references to Doomsday Sanction)**_

* * *

When Toyman had murdered Superman, it wasn't that he didn't want to break the villain's falsely-smiling head as much as Diana – just that he didn't allow himself public displays (besides, she had reached Toyman first).

Superman, friend to every creature in the universe, was under no such restraints. He swallowed as the Man of Steel, eyes already beginning to smolder, hauled Luthor from the crater.

Apocalypse on Earth, Question said.

_You don't have to worry about the Justice League._ Trust _me._

Kill Luthor, and it's the end of everything.

_Bruce, you _know _me._

His arm shot out to stop Diana. She stared at him, puzzled but obedient.

_Yeah. I do._

Did he? He trusted Superman as he did no one else, but did he really _know_ him?

_There's always that Kryptonite you carry around._

He kept one hand on the lead-lined pocket of his belt until Luthor's feet touched ground.


	10. Argue

_**Prompt #10 – Argue**_

_**Episode – Starcrossed**_

* * *

"Regardless of what she did, I never would've gotten that force-field down without her."

"You were _supposed_ to have backup." Batman glowered pointedly at Diana and Superman.

The Princess returned the glare. "I was busy with the rest of the ship, thank you."

"And I was trying to prevent you from _suicide_." Clark's patience had finally ended. Yes, Shayera had much to answer for, but she was not the only one who had ever gone off the straight-and-narrow; the world hadn't forgotten the consequences of Darkseid's brainwashing.

"Completely _inexcusable_. You threw away the _entire mission_ to come after _one man_," Bruce emphasized, scowling at the team he'd thought never to see again.

Superman leaned forward, inches from the cowl. "I suppose you'd rather I left you to _die?_"

"If it meant insuring the mission, _yes_!"

"Um…fellas." Flash gulped nervously. "Could you take it outside, so the rest of us can vote?"


	11. Breathe

_**Prompt #11 – Breathe**_

_**Episode – Starcrossed**_

* * *

When the Watchtower hit the stratosphere, he wished in flashing grim humor that he had some way of relaying to Alfred to tell the others he had _not_ done as good an insulation job on the place as he had thought.

When he checked the status of the mission, he was slightly annoyed but not worried that the force-field was not down yet; he had, despite his usual appearance, utmost confidence in his teammates.

When he could feel the tower melting from the heat, the last thing he saw before passing out was the force-field receding. _Mission accomplished_.

When night air struck his face to awaken him, followed by a rush of wind that hurt his ears and an explosion that quaked the entire region, he only wished Superman had given him a chance to breathe before flattening him protectively against the desert as the debris hailed down over them.


	12. Hide

_**Prompt #12 – Hide**_

_**Episode – Once and Future Thing**_

* * *

"I thought I covered my tracks."

"I may not be the World's Greatest Detective, but I _am_ a reporter," Clark replied dryly. "Alfred made you some coffee. And some kind of British biscuit-things…"

"Crumpets."

"Yeah. I talked to Lantern."

"And?"

"And he said something was bothering you." Clark shrugged, floating over with the tray.

"So?"

"Come off it, Bruce. If you don't want to talk about it, fine; but you can't brood down here forever, telling the world Bruce Wayne went to Europe."

"No?"

"Something happened on that mission, didn't it?" he asked quietly. "You found out something you didn't want to about the future."

_Other than the fact that you, and Diana, and everyone else, are all killed?_

"Maybe."

"Can I help?"

"…No." Grimacing, he pulled back his cowl, holding a headache at bay.

Clark looked at him in sympathetic resignation before pulling up another chair. "Cream or sugar?"


	13. Grudge

_**Prompt #13 – Grudge**_

_**Episode – Secret Society**_

* * *

_"A little more teamwork wouldn't hurt any of us."_

Clark had taken Green Lantern's side, not _his_. He didn't _need_ practice; he had _never_ had problems with working alone. But he really hated the fact that Superman had sided with Lantern, not with him.

He hated the fact that he knew, somewhere, somehow, that Clark was right – he usually was. He hated that Superman had sounded more disappointed than angry. He hated himself for _caring_ enough about Clark's opinion that on that field he had felt the need to make the first move, thanking him for taking Shade's punch (even if he hadn't needed help). He hated that even that gesture had not fixed things, that he was _still_ ticked at Clark.

And he really, _really_ hated the fact that his security cameras had picked up Superman dejectedly walking – not flying – across his lawn, apology written all over his face.


	14. Blame

**_Prompt #14 - Blame_**

**_Episode: Flashpoint_**

* * *

Untraceable cell calls were usually bad news.

"What is it now, Alfred?" Without waiting, he flicked the television on and stared, horrified. "What. In the world. Did we _do_?"

"I've no idea, sir."

He groaned, searching for his aspirin. "Have you heard from anyone up there?"

"Yes, sir. Master Wally is in New Mexico now."

"Then I'm coming home. Tell Clark to call me."

"I can't, sir."

"…_Why_?"

"Master Wally said Superman apparently endeavoured to stop the binary-fusion generator from outside the Watchtower –"

The aspirin bottle shattered. "What was he _thinking_? That could kill even _him_!"

"I'm certain I've no idea, sir."

"Alfred…what else?" _Please…_

"Simply that they were taking him to sick bay, I'm afraid."

His jaw ached from clenching. "I'm going to take Cadmus apart, Alfred."

"And if Lex Luthor is responsible?"

"I might just take _him_ apart too," he growled, and meant it.

"Very good, sir."


	15. Save

**_Prompt #15 - Save_**

**_Episode: Panic in the Sky_**

* * *

They hovered out of sight while Waller entered. He was still ticked (he'd worked for years to regain people's trust after Darkseid's brainwashing, and Luthor had just [literally] blown that to kingdom come).

Five minutes later, Diana was blocking glass shards with upraised wrists. A plummeting spiral of blue-and-gray, a free-falling grappling-hook, and –

"Superm-"

"I've got him!" he shouted, streaking after the plunging black cape.

--

_Of all the luck_, he thought grimly. He'd expected to be killed someday in Gotham by a gangster, not by being knocked through a Metropolis window – by Lex Luthor, yes.

He was calculating his chances of surviving landing on his feet, when a red-and-blue blur swooped him out of mid-air.

"You need new equipment," the Man of Steel observed mischievously.

He glared. "You _think_?"

"I do, sometimes."

He tried to keep the scowl in place, but finally, folding his arms, sat back and grinned.


	16. Give

**_Prompt #16 - Give_**

**_Episode: Comfort and Joy (with a nod to BTAS)_**

* * *

Wally's "Why don't we put the Watchtower on autopilot? Who's gonna try to destroy the world on Christmas Eve?" had been countered with a complete detailing of villains (including Joker, from experience) who _would, _gladly_._

Superman had given him _that look_, the one that made him wish he too were a Martian and could phase through the floor, and then left with J'onn.

It was not until late that night that he finally looked up from the screen showing snowy Gotham, and noticed a package on the counter.

_Nightwing said you love this movie_, read the tag, in Clark Kent's half-shorthand scrawl. _Merry Christmas, Bruce._

Opening the gift, he looked at the cover of the vid-disc inside. _It's a Wonderful Life_.

He would _kill_ both of them.

But first he'd turn off the security cameras so no one could ever prove he had watched the movie on the oversized monitor.


	17. Found

**_Prompt #17 - Found_**

**_Episode: Doomsday Sanction_**

* * *

He was drifting, and not just in-and-out of hypothermic unconsciousness. The tidal wave had carried him far from San Vaquero. _How_ far, he didn't know; he couldn't turn his head.

A sudden rush of wind, and something – some_one_ – plummeted into the ocean beside him, lifting him free of the flotation into the just-as-cold air.

"J'onn, Diana. Yeah, I found him…" Ah, that would be Clark, brilliantly stating the obvious. "No, he's…wait, let me check…yeah, broken ribs at least…you know he lines that cowl with lead, I can't tell. Should I move him?"

"Yes," he managed to mutter sarcastically after a faint splutter of seawater.

The arms holding him tightened in surprise. "Bruce? Can you hear me? The volcano's erupted, but everyone got clear. I'm gonna get you out of here now, okay?"

He managed a non-committal _mmmph_, and relaxed; that was all he had been determinedly remaining conscious to hear.


	18. Childish

**_Prompt #18 - Childish_**

**_Episode: Wild Cards_**

* * *

He awoke with a splitting headache and the certainty that his room at Wayne Manor was _not_ where he had passed out last night.

As his door opened, he rolled away from an annoying beam of sunlight.

"Master Bruce?"

If the room had not suddenly begun to spin around when he sat up, he would have had a better comeback than a moaning flop back into the pillows.

The elderly butler _tsk_ed sympathetically. "Yes, you were in rather nasty shape when Master Kent brought you home last night."

"What _happened_, Alfred?" he muttered, hoping Joker had been incapacitated for at least a week.

A rustling bundle thumped beside him. "I believe, sir, that you shall find all the particulars on the front page of this morning's _Daily Planet_. Shall I bring you some coffee?"

He wondered if throwing a pillow at an old man was as infantile as it sounded.


	19. Crisis

**_Prompt #19 - Crisis_**

**_Episode: Injustice for All_**

* * *

He woke up hating the world in general – the fact that he'd passed out and missed something, that he hadn't felt this weak since last flu season, that Superman had been able to push him back down to the pillow without any effort, and that the Martian looked reproachfully at him when he stalked out in blatant disobedience.

But most of all he hated that instead of the hallway being empty, Clark was leaning against the wall, head in one hand and rubbing his eyes suspiciously.

He froze, and was preparing for an I-am-the-Batman-and-therefore-answer-to-no-one argument when he realized that Superman apparently hadn't seen or heard him yet.

It wasn't until he sensed J'onn's mental grumbling about replacing a chair in the medical bay – twisted completely out of shape by a very worried Superman's clenched hands – that he realized "that venom almost killed you" hadn't been just the over-dramatic journalist talking.


	20. Intimidate

**_Prompt #20 - Intimidate_**

**_Episode: Injustice for All_**

* * *

Alfred Pennyworth had heard many noises coming from the Batcave, but he could count on Penguin's hand the number of times he'd heard _this._

He descended cautiously (he'd been accidentally hit with too many things over the years, especially when Master Dick was in University), but he only found the Batman before the oversized monitor, apparently watching footage of a Justice League interview.

What worried him was that the man was leaned back in his chair with one gloved hand over his mouth, shaking with silent laughter. (The small snickers occasionally escaping were apparently what had alerted him.)

One eyebrow elevated. "Master Bruce?"

_Snap_, and the screen (and face) went completely blank. "What is it, Alfred?"

"Are you feeling all right, sir?"

"I'm fine, Alfred." Black cape swished majestically past him up the steps. "Just remind me sometime to teach Kent how to _really_ get information out of a super-villain?"


	21. Worry

**_Prompt #21 - Worry_**

**_Episode: Tabula Rasa_**

* * *

"If you don't stop pacing, I'm gonna get Diana's lasso and tie you to that chair."

"This is _not_ funny! Do you have any idea how _hard_ it hit you with that?"

Superman sighed, adjusting his new cape. That had been a bad few minutes, when after Luthor was in custody he finally realized his suit was still embedded with enough Kryptonite-dust to make him pretty dizzy. He was lucky that the chunk hadn't been bigger, and also that Bruce had realized what happened after he fell from fifty feet up while heading home.

"You didn't know," he now remonstrated with a very angry Batman.

"I _should _have. It got our strengths, our weaknesses, turned the weaknesses _into_ strengths. I should have _seen_ that."

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Bruce," he sighed. "If I can forget about it, why can't you?"

A growl. "Because it's too _important_."

"Aww…"

"Shut _up,_ Clark."


	22. Drink

**_Prompt #22 - Drink_**

**_Episode: Tabula Rasa_**

* * *

"You're joking, right?"

He glared up at the surprised Man of Steel. "The last time I let anyone drink in here, Tim let a can of Cherry Soder roll around _all night long_ and then opened it on the way back to the Cave," he growled. "The controls were sticky for _weeks_."

Clark hastily drowned his snickering. "I'll be careful, I promise."

"_No_."

"You're going to make me stand out here 'til I'm done?"

"_Yes_. And don't look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"_That_. Quit it." If the man really thought coaxing was going to work, he was –

"C'mon, Bruce…please?"

Hating himself for being such a coward, he punched the door-unlock button.

Grinning, Superman settled into the passenger's seat. "Thanks."

"You spill it, you die."

"Coming from the man who carries more Kryptonite around than batarangs, that's pretty scary. Here's your change, by the way. They didn't have tea."

* * *

A/N: Yes, more than one DCAU episode shows Bruce Wayne drinking tea (come on, he had an _English_ butler). And I'm not making it up about the _Soder_, either - watch the STAS episode **Mxyzpixilated** and you'll see billboards for the stuff. Ok, so yes, it was pointless fluff. :P


End file.
